Wednesday, April 19, 2017

The IMD has predicted normal rainfall during the 2017 southwest monsoon season for the country as a whole is likely to be 96% of the long period average (LPA) with a model error of ±5%. Forecast assessment suggests 38% of probability for near normal monsoon rainfall.

IMD issues various monthly and seasonal forecasts of rainfall for the southwest monsoon season (June to September). Operational forecasts for the southwest monsoon season rainfall are issued in two stages. The first stage forecast has been issued and the second stage forecast will be issued in June 2017. These forecasts are prepared using state-of-the-art Statistical Ensemble Forecasting system (SEFS) that is critically reviewed and improved regularly through in-house research activities. Since 2012, IMD has been using the dynamical global climate forecasting system (CFS) model, which was developed under the Monsoon Mission. The original coupled ocean-atmospheric model framework of CFS was adopted from the National Centres for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), USA . The CFS model was further modified to provide improved rainfall forecasts over the Indian monsoon region through research efforts taken up under the Monsoon Mission.

Monsoon Mission Coupled Forecasting System (MMCFS) based Assessment

For generating the forecast for the 2017 southwest Monsoon season rainfall, atmospheric and oceanic initial conditions during March 2017 were used. The forecast was computed as the average of the 44 ensemble members. The forecast based on the MMCFS suggests that the monsoon rainfall during the 2017 monsoon season (June to September) averaged over the country as a whole is likely to be 96% ± 5%of the Long Period Average (LPA).

Forecast Based on the Operational Statistical Ensemble Forecasting System (SEFS)

Quantitatively, the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 96% of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a model error of ± 5%. Further, forecasts for the seasonal rainfall for the country suggest 38% probability for near normal rainfall scenario.

The weak La Nina conditions developed in the later part of the last monsoon season peaked in December 2016 and started weakening thereafter. Currently, neutral conditions are prevailing over the equatorial Pacific. The atmospheric conditions over the Pacific also reflect neutral El Nino conditions. The latest forecast from MMCFS indicates weak El Nino conditions to develop during the latter part of the monsoon season. However, there is no one to one relationship between El Nino and Indian Monsoon. For example, during 34% of El Nino years, monsoon season rainfall was normal or above normal.

At present, neutral Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) conditions are prevailing over the Indian Ocean . The latest forecast from the MMCFS indicates weak positive IOD conditions are likely to develop during the middle of the monsoon season and to persist for some more months subsequently. Positive IOD conditions are likely to be favourable for a normal/above normal monsoon.

As the extreme sea surface temperature conditions over the Pacific particularly El Nino conditions over the Pacific (El Nino or La Nina) and positive IOD development over the equatorial Indian Ocean are known to have strong influence on the Indian summer monsoon, IMD is carefully monitoring the sea surface conditions over the Pacific and Indian oceans

IMD will issue the update forecasts in early June, 2017 as a part of the second stage long range forecast of monsoon rainfall. Along with the update forecast, separate forecasts for the monthly (July and August) rainfall over the country as a whole and seasonal (June-September) rainfall over various geographical regions of India will also be issued. By that time, more information on the evolution of El Nino and IOD will be available.

Normal monsoon to boost rural demand, manufacturing and economy

We believe that normal monsoon forecast by Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) is encouraging as normal monsoon behavior helps not only the agriculture sector but also boosts rural demand and manufacturing sector. We expect economy to grow at around 8% with a good growth in the agriculture sector, manufacturing sector and steady growth of the services sector.

Our country is still considered as agrarian economy and is largely dependent on the monsoon behavior in a particular year as a substantial part of the agricultural produce comes from the monsoon fed crops. So good monsoon is always considered as a big boon to India ’s economy and helps in increasing agricultural output. However, we need to focus on minimizing the wastages by augmenting storage capacities, modernizing or upgrading the godowns.

Micron Prithvi Foundation, a non-profit organization is working assiduously to put India on the map on World Sports. Unless backed by means, Sportsman in India have suffered continually due to lack of infrastructure and facilities. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a revolutionary document, supporting Proud Paralympians in being catalysts for change. But in India, Paralympians with great talent, girt and determination, struggle to find the right platforms to display their mettle. With little or no support from governmental authorities, their abilities are being lost.

At MPF, our mission is very clear. To promote clean sports at all levels and give the talented Sportsmen and Sportswomen, the right opportunities. We intend to

Promote sports in rural areas.

} Prepare Athletes for World Olympics & Paralympics.

} Encourage more women and disabled athletes and give them a positive environment to train in their respective sports

} Impart sports-related education & training for all round development of the athletes

} Train coaches to further advance their skills to keep them in line with world techniques.

} Organize various sports meets in Villages, Local District and State level.

As a starting point, we are conducting a Press Conference in Rohtak at our Academy to introduce our Athletes, who have just returned from a Paralympic event in Jaipur and won many Gold Medals. We also wish to introduce our coach Head Coach for 13 years at the Don Valley Stadium, the biggest Athletics Stadium in the UK. He has also been coaching for 23 years at every level from Junior development work to senior elite performance athletes with the England , GB and others International Sports Team. He is currently working with Olympic and Paralympics athletes in summer and winter Games, World Championships, World Cups, European Championships and Common Wealth Games across a number of sports. At MP, we shall be running a sports academy in mainly track and field sports, such as 100m, 200m, 400m, long Distance, Throwing Events and Many More.

Prog Details

Event: MPF Foundation

Venue: HOTEL RIVOLI, Sonipat Road, Rohtak

Time: 3:00 P.M Onwards Followed By High Tea

We will be providing pick and drop facilities. Request you to inform us of your requirements by Thursday. Contact Person: Umesh Gambhir @ 9355620009/ 9255737775

Ministry of Textiles, today presented a curtain raiser to ‘Textiles India 2017’ – positioned as the first ever global B2B Textile and handicrafts event in India, at the Crafts Museum in the national capital today. The event hosted by the Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India under the leadership of Honourable Minister of Textiles, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani and Minister of State, Shri Ajay Tamtawitnessed an inspiring experience of the major strands of the textile story of India as represented by the leading crafts persons and fashion designers of the country. Thepresentation was a celebration of the textiles and handicrafts of India bringing to the fore the inspiring vision of the Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi – “From Farm to Fibre, Fibre to Factory, Factory to Fashion, Fashion to Foreign.”

Speaking on the occasion, Honourable Minister of Textiles, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani said that the spectrum of Indian textiles is extremely diverse and its history is world renowned. Textiles India 2017 holds the promise of becoming a landmark annual trade event for the Indian textiles and apparel industry at the global level. With this curtain raiser, we are celebrating the significantachievements of our textile industry and the enormous promise of spectacular growth over the next few years. Today we applaud the community which manufactures the diverse fabrics, apparel and textiles in the country and creates handcrafted brilliance for the world to experience.

The Crafts Village was vibrant with unique exhibitscelebrating the diverse crafts and textiles of India and the skills of the weavers and craftsmen from across the country, who were especially invited to be a part of this evening. The artisans presented live demonstrationsshowcasing the potential of the products for international markets. The international delegates that attended wereextremely appreciative of the attention to detail and incredible hand-work of these artisans. The different mediums and the award winning artisans are as below:

Carpet Weaving

Mr. Fakre Alam (Mirzapur)

White Metal work (Chitai)

Mr. Mohd. Yusuf (National Awardee)

Mr. Farooq Khan (National Awardee)

Barmer Embroidery

Mr. Makhna Ram

Wood Inlay

Mr. Firoz Khan (National Awardee)

Mr. Kamal Matharu (National Awardee)

Crewel Embroidery

Mr. Noor Mohd. Bhat, SRINAGAR

(National Awardee)

A representation of artisans, weavers, emerging & established designers from across the country celebrated the special preview to Textiles India 2017. The fashion designers and craftsmen showcased the strength of the Indian textiles sector in Cotton, Silk, Wool, Woven & hand-printed, Embroidered as well as Modern & Futuristic textiles.

Textiles India 2017 is a landmark global trade event for the Indian Textile and handicraft Sector that will showcase the entire range of textile products from ‘Fibre to Fashion’ and will be inaugurated by the Hon”blePrime minister, Shri Narendra Modi. The aim is to make it one of the key annual destinations for International Buyers. Textiles India 2017 is scheduled to be held at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar from June 30 to July 2, 2017. It shall have more than 1000 stalls and witness the presence of over 2500 discerning International buyers, agents, designers, retail chains from across the world, and 15000 domestic buyers. The three day event will include global conference on the last day with six themes to be chaired by concerned Union ministers and the Valedictory session presided over by the Union Finance Minister. Over 33 roundtables will be held on issues of concern for the various segments of textiles and handicrafts on the 2nd day i.e., 1st July, with prominent international speakers & industry leaders.

The Government of India and the World Bank, for the National Hydrology Project, has signed the US$ 175 million loan pact .The project will fortify the capacity of institutions to evaluate the water situation in their regions and reduce their exposure to frequent flood and droughts, saving hundreds of lives and livelihoods.

India continues to be water-stressed and is facing with the challenge of managing its water needs amidst frequent floods and droughts, with rainfall in the country being highly seasonal and 50 % of precipitation falling in just 15 days and over 90 % of river flows in just four months.

Giving reservoir managers a precise picture of the water situation in their region, the National Hydrology Project will fabricate on the success of the Hydrology Project-I and Hydrology Project-II. The loan for the project, from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), has a 6-year grace period, and a maturity of 23 years.This project will scale up the successes achieved under HP-I and HP-II, including the states in the Ganga, and Brahmaputra-Barak basins, to cover the entire country. It will help new states to better manage water flows from the reservoirs, apart from helping states that have already benefited from the earlier two projects to further improve and complete their monitoring networks.

To incorporate and set up the National Water Informatics Center, Memorandum of Agreements (MOAs) have already been signed between the central government and the states. National Flood Forecasting Systems with an advance warning system and reservoir operation systems as well as water resources accounting in river basins will be integrated under the project.

The project will also help the states watch all the important aspects of the hydro-meteorological cycle and take up the procedures laid out in the earlier projects such as how much rain or snow has fallen right in the catchments of rivers, how speedily the snow will melt, the speed with which the water is flowing, how much silt has built up, how much water will reach the reservoir, and how soon it will do so. This information will right away be conveyed to data centers by the sensors in the field through satellite or mobile phone technology, enabling managers to form a clear picture of the water situation unfolding in their region.

You are cordially invited for a Press Conference by Punjab & Haryana Election Watch (P&H EW) and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) to announce the13th Annual National Conference of ADR on Electoral and Political Reforms.

Details of the Press Conference:

Topic: Announcement of 13th Annual National Conference of ADR on Electoral and Political Reforms

Venue: Press Club, Chandigarh

Date: 28th April, 2017, Friday

Time: 3 PM

Details of the National Conference: Punjab & Haryana Election Watch and ADR are organizing the ‘13th Annual National Conference on Electoral and Political Reforms’on 29th and 30th April, 2017 at the Panjab University, Chandigarh. The Chief Election Commissioner, Dr. Nasim Zaidi, has kindly consented to be the Chief Guest and give the key note address on 29th April, 2017. Representatives of the National Election Watch from each state chapter, members of political parties, government institutions and academicians will be present to deliberate on issues related to electoral and political reform in the country. We look forward to your participation and inputs in making the conference a success.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday called for an early general election on June 8. She said this is the only way to guarantee political stability for years ahead after Britain leaves the European Union. She held a Cabinet meeting at Downing Street she said she would go for election to the country this year.

There has to be a House of Commons vote on Wednesday on the proposed election and May thus need Parliament’s backing to hold a vote before 2020.

“Labour will stand up for the people of Britain. I welcome the prime minister’s decision to give the British people the chance to vote for a government that will put the interests of the majority first,” he said.

“Labour will be offering the country an effective alternative to a government that has failed to rebuild the economy, delivered falling living standards and damaging cuts to our schools and NHS,” he said.

Britain’s next election was due to have been held in 2020, according to a legislation but the law can be overruled if two-thirds of lawmakers in the British parliament vote in favour of early elections.

On behalf of the Ministry of Textiles, we take great pleasure in inviting you for the curtain raiser of ‘Textiles India – 2017’ – a curated textile and crafts presentation being hosted by Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India.

May we request you to join us on Tuesday,18th April 2017 at 7:00 pm at the Crafts Museum, New Delhi (Entry from Bhairon Marg Gate)

Curated by IMG Reliance-Fashion in collaboration with Ministry of Textiles the event aspires to showcase an entire spectrum of heritage handloom to handicraft textiles as well as modern fabrics.

It will include artisans, weavers, emerging & established designers that features the following names for the showcase at the curtain raiser:

Global experiences suggest that as countries develop, the pace of rural to urban migration increases with deceleration occurring only when high levels of urbanisation are reached. India presents a different picture. Here, migration began to decelerate when less than 25 percent of the country’s population lived in urban areas, and continued to do so over decades. Notwithstanding suggestions that India’s stringent definition of the ‘urban’ might mask the real levels of urbanisation, there is a need to explain this unique development experience especially as poverty and deprivation persist despite rising per capita incomes. This workshop is less about answers and intended more as a provocation to raise queries about the quality of the urban experience and its impact on migration decisions.

Dr Pronab Sen is currently the Country Director for the International Growth Centre’s India Central Programme. He is also a member of the High-level Expert Group on Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress (OECD) and the Technical Advisory Group of the International Comparison Project (World Bank).

Dr Sen has been Chairman of the National Statistical Commission. Prior to superannuation from the Government in 2012, he was the first Principal Economic Adviser at the Government of India’s Planning Commission. He has also held positions as the first Chief Statistician of India, as well as Secretary, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, Government of India (2007-2010). He has also chaired a number of government Committees, most notably on Ecological Fragility, Control of Prices of Essential Drugs, and Slums.

Dr Sen has an M.B.A. and M.A. in Economics from the George Washington University, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Johns Hopkins University.

This workshop is free and there is no registration. Find all the videos of our previous workshops here.

This is the eighty seventh in a series of Urban Workshops planned by the Centre de Sciences Humaines (CSH), New Delhi and Centre for Policy Research (CPR). These workshops seek to provoke public discussion on issues relating to the development of the city and try to address all its facets including its administration, culture, economy, society and politics. For further information, please contact: Christine Ithurbide at christine@csh-delhi.com, Partha Mukhopadhyay at partha@cprindia.org or Marie-Hélène Zerah at marie-helene.zerah@ird.fr

The National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 2315 out of 2537 candidatesfrom 18 political parties, including 6 national parties, 12 state parties, 7 unrecognized parties and 1051 independent candidates, who are contesting in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Elections to be held on 23rd April, 2017. There are 222 candidates who have not been analysed as their affidavits were not available at the time of making this report. Among the major parties, 22 candidates are from Aam Aadmi Party; 15 from Indian National Congress; 7 from Bhartiya Janata Party and 20 candidates are from Bahujan Samaj Party, who have not been analysed.

Candidates with cases related to Crime against Women: 23 candidates have declared cases of crime against women such as assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty (IPC Section-354),rape (IPC Section-376) etc.

Party wise Candidates with Criminal Cases:26 (10%) out of 260 candidates from BJP, 35 (14%) out of 256 candidates from INC,21(8%)out of 250 candidate scontesting from AAP, 13 (7%) out of 191 candidates from BSP, 3 (8%) out of 38 candidates from NCP, 1 (6%) out of 16 candidates from CPI (M) and 1 (8%) out of 12 candidates fielded by CPI have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Party wise Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: 13 (5%) out of 260 candidates from BJP, 22 (9%) out of 256 candidates from INC,15(6%) out of 250 candidates from AAP, 10 (5%) out of 191 candidates from BSP, 2 (5%) out of 38 candidates from NCP, 1 (6%) out of 16 candidates from CPI (M) and 1 (8%) out of 12 candidates fielded by CPI have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

FINANCIAL BACKGROUND

Share of wealth among candidates : The share of wealth amongst the candidates contesting in the MCD Elections is as follows:

Value of assets

Number of candidates

% of Candidates

Rs.10 crores and above

74

3%

Rs.5 crores to Rs.10 crores

106

5%

Rs.1 crore to Rs.5 crores

517

22%

Rs.20 lakhs to Rs.1 crore

719

31%

less than Rs.20 lakhs

899

39%

Table: Share of wealth amongst contesting candidates

Crorepati Candidates: Out of the 2315 candidates analysed, 697 (30%) are crorepatis.

Party wise Crorepati Candidates:141 (54%) out of 260 candidates from BJP, 163 (64%) out of 256 candidates from INC,104(42%) out of 250 candidates from AAP, 41 (22%) out of 191 candidates from BSP, 9 (24%) out of 38 candidates from NCP, nd 1 (8%) out of 12 candidates fielded byCPI have declared assets worth more than Rs.1 crore.

Average assets: The average of assets per candidate contesting in the MCD Elections 2017 is Rs 1.61 Crores.

Party wise average assets: Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 260 BJP candidates is Rs 2.89 Crores, 256 INCcandidates have average assets of Rs 4.36 Crores, 250 AAP candidates have average assets worth Rs 1.65 crores, 191 BSP candidates have average assets worth Rs 89.59 Lakhs, 38 NCP candidates have average assets worth Rs 92.38 lakhs,16 CPI(M) candidates have average assets worth Rs 19.20 lakhs, , 12 CPI candidates have average assets of Rs 23.04 Lakhs and 1051 Independent candidates have average assets of Rs. 97.79 lakhs.

High asset candidates:The top 3 candidates with highest assets contesting in the MCD Elections 2017 are given below:

Table: Top three candidates with highest assets who have not declared ITR details

* Some candidates may be exempted from filing Income Tax Returns

OTHER BACKGROUND DETAILS

Education details of candidates: 1403(61%) candidates have declared their educational qualification to be between 5th pass and 12th pass, while 685(29.5%)candidates have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above. There are 40 candidates who have declared themselves as just literateswhereas 125 candidates are illiterate.

Age details of candidates:1807 (78%) candidates have declared their age to be between 25 and 50 years while 385(17%) candidates have declared their age to be between 51 and 70 years. 30 candidates have not declared their age.

Now the clamor is for big; bigger and biggest. Particularly in the banking sector. After the merger of subsidiaries with SBI there is a talk of merging other banks. The chief of Kotak opines that five banks will only remain in future.

This craze for big banks with big balance sheets was prevalent in the eighties in US/Europe. But after the banking and financial crisis of 2008 there is a re-think about this. Issue is whether “bigness” by itself will provide efficiency and customer service along with profitability. With the induction of technology in banking services the size is no more a big issue. Even a small bank can be part of a network.

Banking is essentially a relationship based activity even though rules are important. Knowing the customer, his business needs and his product lines and trends in that sector are all important for the banker. In our context in Public sector banks specialization is not common and transfers are regular. The branch manager spends more time in managing the personnel activities of a branch rather than the customer /market centric activities. If he is transferred to rural or semi urban branch then he is looking at calendar to return to his home base. Hence he is not fully involved in his “catchment Areas”.

Indian Economy is dominated by Partnership and Proprietorship firms. They constitute nearly 50 % of our GDP. In services sector like Construction/trade [Wholesale and Retail]/transport/Restaurants/professional services like Plumber; carpenter; painter; electricians; priests etc. they constitute as much as 70 to 80 percent.

But unfortunately Bank credit is not adequately available to them since existing commercial banks are more focused towards big corporates. In 1990 Corporates had 30% of the share of Bank credits while as these Non-corporates had 58% and it became 40 and 42% in 2015. The remaining got by Govt. Up to 10 Crore credit limits were 61% of outstanding in 2005 which became 46% in 2015. [Source: Basic statistical returns—various issues—RBI]

Out of the total credit needs of our economy nearly 55 to 60% is met by Non-bank sources like money lenders /chits/NBFCs etc. Banks are not geared to meet the credit needs of small businesses which are the engines of our economic growth. The earlier mentioned service sector activities are growing at more than 8% per annum –real growth rates—in the last decade and they all borrow at 2 to 6% per month. The Bank lending rates are not material to them.

Bigger banks become more “system” oriented and look at “paper” ratios like current ratios and Debt service coverage .They do not distinguish between customers. If a customer has not repaid in 90 days then it is bad debt and need to be provisioned irrespective of the “nature” of customers and issues.

Bigger banks rely on technology and some even charge for customer to meet its managers and call it as “personal banking”. The longer is the “chain” between the banker and customer greater is the probability of failures. We need more of small banks catering to local communities and local businesses. We need banks which understand the aspirations of the emerging entrepreneurial class in small towns and villages. We need to enact MUDRA act to integrate our credit markets including money lenders and make local banks which understand local customers to flourish. Many local banks have served the community very well like City Union Bank [CUB] in TN; Federal Bank in Kerala; TJSB–Sahakari bank in Maharashtra etc. can be examples.

Experts talk about banks having larger balance sheets—for what? Are our banks planning to have hundreds of branches in France/USA/Germany? Will they be allowed in the context of decline in the glamour for globalization? Most developed countries are increasingly inward looking—Le Pen of France says that there is a need to save France from Globalization-

This is the exactly wrong time for India to be a Globalizer—but we always imitate failed models of west to learn later that they were not working.

The fetish about larger/bigger equated to better and efficient is most absurd in the era of technology in banking which is altering the way banks function. A mobile phone is becoming a bank these days and the one with 20000 branches may become a dinosaur. The imported experts and big consulting firms are like snake oil salesmen. Sell that helps them not the country. We imitated soviet model in the fifties and sixties which was a failed model and we are imitating the US model now which is recognized in US as a failed model.

But we refuse to learn from failures of others as well as ours and that is one interesting quality of ours.

New Delhi, 18th April 2017: Setting a rare record in the Indian film industry, Dr B.R. Shetty, UAE based billionaire businessman and philanthropist is investing Rs. 1000 crore (USD 150 million) to produce India’s biggest ever motion picture, ‘Mahabharata’. This magnum opus is being directed by noted ad man and advertising film maker V.A Shrikumar Menon. Mahabharata will be produced in two parts and is scheduled to go on floor by September 2018 and will be released in early 2020. The second part of the film will be released within 90 days of the first part. The film will be shot primarily in English, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil & Telugu and will be dubbed into major Indian languages and leading foreign languages.

The film will be a coming together of the crème de la crème of Indian and global cinema, in terms of its cast and crew. The technical crew would include some of the great names in the world cinema including some academy winners. The cast will have the best of talents from Indian cinema as well as some big names from Hollywood. This film will have an identity across continents, with their representatives donning the myriad characters in Mahabharata! A global team led by an Internationally renowned casting director will handpick the cast.

Serial entrepreneur and billionaireDr. B.R. Shetty has been a keen supporter of Indian arts and culture for over many decades. With his decision to back Mahabharata, Dr. Shetty will join the league of visionary producers like Lord Richard Attenbourgh who backed the biopic “Gandhi” which was based on the life of India’s most famous freedom fighter, and Father of our nation, which appealed to a global audience.

It remains almost impossible to narrate Mahabharata in the big screen except by way of adaptation of M T Vasudevan Nair’s Jnanpeeth Award winning novel Randamoozham (The Second Turn). This novel narrates Mahabharata through the eyes of Bhima, the second of the Pandavas. The screenplay is written by the writer himself who holds a record of maximum national award for screen writing in the history of Indian cinema

The ancient Sanskrit epic of Mahabharata has been a topic of creative adaptation in different formats for many decades. There have also been efforts to render it, but the success of these have been limited to the stage or serialization for the television audiences. Hence, this project will be the first of its kind to take the epic which has engaged generations of audiences on the silver screen at such a grand level. The Indian core team led by Dr. B.R. Shetty augurs well to ensure that the sanctity and the iconic status of the epic is upheld.

Dr B.R.Shetty, Founder and Chairman of UAE Exchange and NMC Healthcare said, “Mahabharata is an epic of all epics. This movie will be a true ‘Make in India’ made for the world. Mahabharata mesmerizes as well as brings focus on life and living”. “ I believe that this film will not only set global benchmarks, but also reposition India and its prowess in mythological storytelling. I am confident that this film will be adapted in over 100 languages and reach over 3 billion people across the world.” Importantly, am awestruck by the fantastic screenplay by Sri. MT and I have tremendous faith in the ability of V.A. Shrikumar to paint this narrative on celluloid. His passion and energy are boundless” Dr. Shetty added.

Commenting on the initiative, Padma Bhushan M.T. Vasudevan Nair, recipient of almost every literary award in the India including the Jnanpith Award and many abroad said “I’m extremely happy with Dr. B. R. Shetty’s belief in the potential of the story and his passion and commitment to take it to global audiences. I sincerely congratulate him for his vision in backing a project of this scale.”

Mr. V A Shrikumar, Director, who has been living the script and researching for this project for the past few years, said, “I would like to sincerely thank Dr. B R Shetty for having immense faith in this project and help bring it to life with his financial commitment & his innate pride on Indian heritage. We are fully geared to attain the next level of production quality and visual magic, as well as narrative wizardry with this initiative.”

About Dr B R Shetty

Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty (known as Dr. B.R. Shetty) is the Founder and Chairman of Abu Dhabi based nmc group. The conglomerate includes global institutions like NMC Healthcare, UAE Exchange, Travelex etc. The group when established in 1975 was initially interested in hospitals, but since then has diversified into sectors including pharmaceuticals, global financial services, retail, advertising and information technology.The Enterprise he has built over the years is truly a metaphor of India’s emerging leadership in a global marketplace.

Pune, April 18, 2017: The Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), the official sanctioning body of professional golf in India, will be staging the second edition of the Pune Open at the prestigious Poona Club Golf Course from April 20 – 23, 2017. The Pune Open, the seventh event of the PGTI’s 2017 season, carries a prize purse of Rs. 30 lakh. The Pro-Am event is scheduled for April 19.

The Associate Partners for the event are 24K by Kolte Patil, LIC, Pirelli, Bank of Maharashtra and Websym. Hotel Crowne Plaza Pune City Centre is the Official Hotel Partner.

The tournament will see some of India’s leading professionals in action such as defending champion Harendra Gupta, Shankar Das, Mukesh Kumar, Honey Baisoya, Udayan Mane, Shamim Khan, Ajeetesh Sandhu and Khalin Joshi, to name a few.

The foreign challenge will be led by the Sri Lankan trio of Anura Rohana, N Thangaraja and K Prabagaran, Australia’s Kunal Bhasin and South African Damian Naicker.

The host city of Pune will be represented by Gurki Shergill (winner of 8th TATA Open 2009), Pravin Pathare, Sameer M Shaikh, Rajiv Datar and Sagar Raghuvanshi.

This is a 72-hole stroke-play tournament featuring a field of 125 professionals. The cut will be applied after the first 36 holes. The top 50 players and ties will make the halfway cut and continue to play for another 36 holes.

Mr. Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, said, “The city of Pune has produced some promising golfing talent over the years. The second edition of the Pune Open will help generate greater interest for professional golf in the city and act as a catalyst for players from the region to realize their full potential. We thank the Poona Club Golf Course for partnering with us in staging the Pune Open and look forward to a successful tournament.”

Mr. Navin Thakur, AVP-Marketing, Kolte-Patil Developers Ltd, said, “We are happy to associate with PGTI for Pune Open Golf Championship. We look at this tie up more than a sponsorship, for us this is a collaboration to boost golf as a sport. 24K, a luxury brand from Kolte-Patil that develops high end projects, has introduced the 9 hole golf putting green in 24K Opula which is under construction basis the learning from the customer interests from earlier delivered project. With the profile of people who choose 24K as a abode, we have to set high standards, these are reflected in our 24K properties through the quality of construction, our value added services and just about every aspect. With this collaboration we aim to boost golf as an emerging sport in India.”

The Poona Club Golf Course, the venue for the event, is spread over 100 acres and dotted with majestic banyan trees and other flowering trees. The course, which is one of the top championship venues in the country, is well appreciated for its water bodies and fast and true greens. The course has staged many National level professional, amateur and junior events over the years.

About PGTI:

Formed in 2006, Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) is the recognised official body of professional golf in India. PGTI’s objective is to promote professional golf in the country, as well as to give players an opportunity to be involved in the decision making on all aspects of the game. Headed by Mr. Gautam Thapar (President), PGTI’s governing body comprises leading Indian golf professionals. PGTI currently has over 300 members.

About 24K –

24K is Kolte-Patil Developers Ltd brand for luxury abodes. Design, thinking and planning is reflected at every stage of crafting a 24K project and in every aspect, be it materials, processes or design details, we start from nothing but the best. 24K Province in Aundh Annexe consists of four 24K projects. 24K Glitterati I and 24K Glitterati II have been delivered, while 24K Opula & 24K Atria are available for booking. Collectively these 4 projects are part of 24K Province a mix use development.